By LAURA CRUMP ANDERSON

I feel like I have had this conversation until I am blue in the face: riders should exercise outside of the tack. With top athletes like McClain Ward and Boyd Martin exercising regularly outside of the tack, it’s clear that fitness will improve your riding. Exercise outside of riding isn’t just for the elite; rider fitness has a huge impact on every rider’s success in the saddle. 

Time Spent in the Tack

While unmounted exercise is important, time spent in the tack is the best way to improve your riding. The sport-specific skill you develop in your seat/core, legs, arms, and hands cannot be recreated by any exercise program. Correct timing and knowing when to reward and when to push is not going to come from box jumps. As a lifelong equestrian, my timing and feel is not something I have developed in the gym.

Benefits of Exercise Out of the Tack

Exercising outside of the tack can reduce your chance of injury. Strengthening muscles that are not worked during riding creates a healthier, more stable body. Working out can improve your ability to tell where you are in space, improve your body composition, improve your mobility, and even help fight depression and anxiety. Exercise can also improve your sleep, which is an essential part of rest and recovery. 

Who Am I and What Gives Me The Right To Say This

I am a lifelong equestrian. I started riding bareback on the trails on my Shetland Miniature cross. I got into a hunter jumper barn when I was eight and have competed locally and well as at a few rated shows like Upperville. I found the sport of eventing when I was 12 years old and have been hooked ever since. That has not stopped me from working in grand prix dressage and showjumping barns as well. I believe that in this sport, you can always be learning. 

When I was 14, I was told by an orthopedic surgeon that I had a severe overtraining injury even though I’d never set foot in the gym. I was in so much pain I had to quit riding for almost 6 months. Through physical therapy, I was back to competing less than a year later. 

That was when I dedicated my life to helping riders take their fitness seriously outside of the tack. I went on to get my degree in Kinesiology with a concentration in exercise science, did an internship under the tutelage of an equestrian who was also a physical therapist, and became certified as a Personal Trainer by the American College of Sports Medicine. I am also a 200-hour yoga teacher and mat Pilates certified. I have done this all with the purpose of finding the best routine for riders. I am still learning but I have created a great program. 

In 2022, my book “Ultimate Exercise Routines for Riders” was published by Trafalgar Square. I created my company, Hidden Heights Fitness, to train riders to be the best equestrian they can be. I have worked with five star event riders, Grand Prix dressage riders, polo riders, show jumpers, hunter riders, equestrian endurance athletes, and fox hunters. Even a 60-year-old barrel racer reached out to tell me how much of difference my book has made in her riding. This stuff really works and if you are not exercising you really should consider it. 

Balancing Exercise With an Equestrian Life

Equestrians are already physically active, with an incredibly demanding schedule. I recommend finding ways to train anywhere, at any time. The exercises in my book only need a space the size of a yoga mat, once or twice a week. As a personal trainer, I do sessions on Zoom so my clients don’t have to worry about a commute or parking. There are ways to exercise while saving time to live the life you love. Your body, and your horse, will thank you.

Laura Crump Anderson is a lifelong equestrian and a personal trainer. Find out more about her programs on https://www.hiddenheightsfitness.com/.

Such lifestyle-related conditions account for almost three-quarters of deaths worldwide each year, according to the World Health Organization — 17 million of which happen before the age of 70.

Dedicating some time to a healthy, active lifestyle when you’re young can help to prevent or delay these conditions, LeBrasseur said.

Some might be disappointed that there’s no secret to healthy aging, no matter how much money “biohackers” throw at the problem. But LeBrasseur said this “should really be viewed as an incredible opportunity that you have such control over your health and wellbeing.”

He shared the smartest way to invest your time to stay healthy.

Spend 3% of your day exercising

Investing 3% of your income sounds like a “minimal financial

investment,” LeBrasseur said.

Similarly, investing just 3% of your day in exercise is “a minimal investment to have a profound impact on our overall health,” he said.

This works out at around 30 minutes of a typical 16-hour day that should be spent doing moderate to vigorous exercise, he said.

Moderate exercise should make you feel “on the verge of being a little short of breath,” he said, or is a five or a six out of 10 in terms of effort. Vigorous exercise, meanwhile, is more of an eight or nine out of 10 and should make you actively fatigued.

Depending on your fitness level, this could involve walking, lifting weights, running, cycling, or swimming.

The type of exercise matters

LeBrasseur recommended doing a mixture of resistance and aerobic exercises — aerobic for cardiovascular, brain, metabolic, and pulmonary health, and resistance to maintain physical function and prevent frailty in older age.

One 2022 study showed that doing both resistance training and aerobic exercise appeared to reduce participants’ risk of dying from any cause by 32%.

HIIT, or high-intensity interval training, is a good “twofer,” LeBrasseur said, because it features both resistance and aerobic exercises. With HIIT, “you’re definitely taxing your cardiovascular system as well as your musculoskeletal and neuromuscular systems, and there is a clear benefit to that,” he said.

Functional training, featuring squats, lunges, and pulling/pushing exercises, is also beneficial for healthy aging, he said, as it can strengthen the muscles needed to preserve mobility and physical function in older age.

Don’t just be active at the gym

“Being more habitually active and having fewer rest periods during the day is highly beneficial” for health and longevity, LeBrasseur said.

He recommended adding bits of exercise into the day wherever you can — whether that’s parking the car further from your destination, getting up to speak to colleagues instead of emailing them, or going to the grocery store instead of getting a delivery.

Consider when you don’t move, too, he said. If you work a sedentary job, he suggested getting up from your desk every hour to walk for 10 minutes or doing some pushups or squats.

Start ASAP and pick something you enjoy

“Sooner is always better,” LeBrasseur said. “It’s never too late. Even for 90 year olds, there’s strong evidence that exercise can have clear health benefits on preserving function and preventing exacerbation of disease.”

But the most important thing about physical activity and exercise is consistency, he said. So, pick an activity that you enjoy and can do regularly to reap the benefits.

LeBrasseur runs, bikes, and swims, but said people shouldn’t try to copy him or anyone else. “The point is that I do these things because I really enjoy them and can be consistent with them. If you asked me to do another activity that I had zero interest in, I might do it for a week but then I’d drop off,” he said.

Combining exercise with socializing can also make regular exercise easier because it’s more enjoyable, plus your friends can hold you accountable.